Method and apparatus for fluid guided self-assembly of microcomponents

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is provided for self-assembly of micro-components such as microchips onto a carrier substrate, provided with assembly locations for said components. The components are supplied to the carrier by a liquid flow, while a template substrate is arranged facing the carrier. The template is a substrate provided with openings aligned to the assembly locations. The carrier and template are submerged into a tank filled with the liquid, while the liquid flow is supplied to the template side together with the components, so that the components are guided towards said openings by the flow of liquid. Once a component is trapped into an opening of the template, substantially no further liquid flow through said opening is possible, so that following components are guided towards the remaining openings, thereby establishing a fast and reliable self-assembly process.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Any and all priority claims identified in the Application Data Sheet, or any correction thereto, are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57. This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/462,601, filed May 2, 2012, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/484,393, filed May 10, 2011, and claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of European Application No. 11165396.0, filed May 10, 2011. Each of the aforementioned applications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, and each is hereby expressly made a part of this specification.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Methods and apparatus related to the assembly of micro components (e.g. chips or other micro-electronic devices) onto a carrier substrate are provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Self-alignment/self-assembly of components with respect to carrier locations is known in the art. One known method is illustrated in FIGS. 1 a-c. As seen in FIG. 1 a, the carrier substrate 1 is submerged in a liquid 2, preferably water. On the assembly locations designed to receive the components, a hydrophobic layer 3 is present (hydrophobic in the case of water used as the liquid 2). Outside of the assembly locations, a hydrophilic layer 4 is present on the carrier surface. A lubricant having substantially no solubility in the liquid 2, is added to the liquid, and forms regions 5 of said lubricant on the assembly locations. On the functional side of the components 6, a similar hydrophobic layer 7 is present, while on the opposite side 8, the component's surface is hydrophilic. Due to surface tension and capillary force-related effects, a component added to the liquid will align with an assembly location, as the hydrophobic layer 7 of a component becomes attracted to a lubricant region 5 (see FIG. 1 b). Energy minimization will then result in a self-aligned state, shown in FIG. 1 c, after which the assembly is finalized by drying and possibly heating steps in order to establish a permanent bond of the component to the carrier.

Presently known techniques which exploit the above-described self-alignment are limited to stochastic processes wherein a number of components are added to a liquid bath containing the carrier substrate. The time a component takes to achieve its final alignment starting from partial overlap with the site depends on the properties of the lubricant (interfacial energy, volume, density, and viscosity)—it may range from fractions of a second to tens of seconds. The process is repeated until the desired fraction of the sites is asymptotically filled, or until the maximum allowed time-to-assembly is reached. Such a process is therefore time-consuming. Also, alignment errors may occur during the drying and heating steps, due to a disturbance of the low-energy state by outside forces (e.g. handling or moving the carrier substrate).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments relate to a method for assembling micro-components to a carrier substrate, said substrate being provided on at least one surface with assembly locations suitable for receiving said micro-components, through the alignment of a contact surface of a component with the surface of an assembly location, wherein: a template substrate is placed facing said substrate surface comprising said assembly locations, said template comprising openings whose shape corresponds to the shape of the largest cross-section of said components taken parallel to the contact surface, said template being placed in an arrangement relative to said carrier substrate so that said openings are aligned with said assembly locations, and at a distance to said carrier which is smaller than the height of the components, said arrangement thereby forming a carrier side and a template side, said carrier and template, whilst remaining in said arrangement of the template relative to the carrier, are submerged in a liquid, and subsequently, said components are provided to the template side of said arrangement, together with a supply of said liquid directed at the template side, said supply of liquid generating a flow of said liquid from the template side through said openings.

According to a preferred embodiment, said arrangement of the carrier and template is placed horizontally in a tank filled with said liquid, with the template side facing upwards, and wherein simultaneously with said supply of liquid, liquid is drained from the tank through one or more outlet openings in said tank.

According to an embodiment, the size of said openings may be such that once a component has become inserted in an opening, further flow through said opening is substantially inhibited.

According to an embodiment, all of said openings may be occupied by components, and said components may be permanently assembled to the carrier.

According to an embodiment, the liquid, after having flown out through the outlet opening(s), may be recirculated back towards the template side of said carrier/template arrangement.

According to an embodiment, said supply of liquid may be provided by a tube arranged to supply said liquid and said components to the template side of said arrangement.

According to an embodiment, the carrier/template arrangement is placed horizontally, and said tube is placed in a slanted position with respect to said arrangement.

According to a further embodiment, each of said assembly locations is provided with a lubricant that is not miscible with said liquid, wherein the contact surface of each assembly location has low affinity for said liquid and high affinity for said lubricant, and wherein likewise the contact surface of each component is provided with a layer that has low affinity for the liquid but high affinity for the lubricant.

The preferred embodiments also relate to an apparatus for performing the method of the preferred embodiments, said apparatus comprising a tank configured to contain a liquid, a means for holding a substrate/template arrangement in said tank, supply means for supplying components and liquid simultaneously to the template side of said arrangement, and one or more outlets configured to drain liquid from said tank.

In an apparatus of a preferred embodiment, said supply means may be a tube configured to supply liquid and components to said template side. Said tube may further be provided with a rail system configured to supply components one by one to said template side. Said tube may be placed in a slanted position with respect to said template side.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a means to recirculate liquid drained by said outlet(s) back towards said supply means.

The apparatus may further comprise a means to recirculate components that have not become inserted in an opening, back towards said supply means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 a-c illustrate the principle of self-alignment of a component, as known in the art.

FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3 a-b illustrate the method and apparatus of a preferred embodiment.

FIGS. 4 a-b show a specific shape of a component which can be self-assembled by the method of a preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A method for self-assembly of micro-components is provided, primarily micro-electronic devices referred to as chips or dies, onto a carrier substrate, wherein the components are guided to their assembly locations by a liquid flow. The following description is based on the use of water as said liquid, although other liquids may also be suitable for use in the methods of preferred embodiments. FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3 a-b illustrate a method and apparatus of a preferred embodiment. The carrier substrate 10 is provided—as in the prior art—with hydrophobic layers 11 on the assembly locations, thereby defining said assembly locations 11, with a hydrophilic layer 19 covering the remainder of the substrate surface. Also as in the prior art, lubricant regions 12 are provided on said assembly locations. In the method of a preferred embodiment, a template substrate 13 is placed in the vicinity of the carrier substrate, one surface of the template substrate facing the surface of the carrier where said assembly locations 11 are present. The template 13 is preferably essentially parallel to the carrier substrate, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

The template 13 can be a substrate of the same size as the carrier substrate. The template is provided with openings 14 whose shape (as seen in a plane parallel to the template 13) corresponds to the shape of the largest cross-section of the components which are to be assembled, while the size of said openings 14 is slightly larger than the size of said largest cross-section, so that a component 15 can easily pass through an opening 14. Said cross-section is taken parallel to the contact surface 20 of the components, i.e., the surface by which the components are to be assembled to an assembly location. However the openings 14 are not so large as to permit a substantial lateral movement of the component when it is present in an opening. Another way of defining the size relation refers to the liquid used for the self-assembly according to the preferred embodiments (see further). When a component is trapped into an opening with the contact surface 20 of the component facing the assembly location 11, further liquid flow through said opening is substantially inhibited. According to a preferred embodiment, the surface area of an opening 14 is about 5% larger in size than the surface area of the largest cross-section of a component 15. Several sizes of components can be assembled by the method of the preferred embodiments, ranging from very small components with their largest dimension equal to, e.g., 200 μm, to large dies with their largest dimension equal to, e.g., 0.5-2 cm. The number of openings 14 in the template can be the same as the number of component locations 11 on the carrier 10. Alternatively there can be a difference between the number of assembly locations 11 and the number of openings 14, for example for self-assembling two types of components. In that case, one template can be used for each component type.

In the method of the preferred embodiments, the template 13 is aligned with the carrier 10 so that the openings 14 are aligned with the assembly locations 11. The carrier 10 and the template 13 are maintained at a fixed mutual distance, said distance being smaller than the height of a component 15. Whilst being maintained at said distance, the template and carrier are submerged in a tank filled with a liquid 2, preferably water. Then a plurality of components 15 are supplied, preferably one by one, to said tank through a suitable supply device, such as a tube 17. The components 15 are supplied on the template side of the template/carrier arrangement, i.e. above the template in the preferred case shown in FIG. 2, wherein the carrier 10 and template 13 are placed horizontally in the tank 16. The components 15 are preferably supplied to the centre of the template or to an area close to the centre of the template. The supply device, in the case of FIG. 2 the tube 17, is configured to supply a stream of liquid (the same liquid as the one in the tank) to the tank, together with the components 15, which are equally supplied through the tube 17. This liquid supply causes a flow of liquid generally indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2, i.e., from a central location above the template outwards towards the edge of the template/carrier arrangement and passing through the openings 14 of the template. For this purpose, the distance between the template 13 and the carrier 10 must be large enough to allow a significant liquid flow through the space between the carrier and the template.

Simultaneously with said supply of liquid, and in order to ensure the indicated flow of liquid, liquid streams out of the tank via one or several outlets 18, preferably located underneath the template/carrier arrangement. From said outlet 18, the liquid may be re-circulated towards the liquid supply tube 17, via a suitable pump system (not shown in the Figures).

When a component 15 is supplied in this way, it is transported by the liquid flow along the trajectory of said liquid flow and thus guided along the upper surface of the template 13, until it becomes caught in an opening 14 of the template, see FIG. 3 a. The components are provided as in the prior art with a hydrophobic layer 20 on their contact surface, and a hydrophilic layer on the opposite surface, which will establish the above described self-alignment to take place, while the component remains within the constraints defined by the opening 14. When said first component is in place, the liquid flow through said opening is substantially blocked as illustrated again by the arrows shown in FIG. 3 a. In between the template and carrier, the flow takes place around the inserted component, as illustrated in the top view of FIG. 3 b (only the flow to the left of the tube 17 is illustrated by arrows). The insertion of one component 15 in an opening 14 increases the probability of subsequent components being guided towards unblocked openings in the template. This process is repeated until all of the assembly locations 11 are provided with components 15.

According to an embodiment, the outlet 18 is suitable for receiving also components 15 which have failed to become caught in an opening 14. Said components may then be gathered from the outlet 18, e.g., by a suitable filter system, and re-introduced in the inlet tube 17. Alternatively, the components may be automatically recirculated towards the inlet tube 17 along with the recirculated guiding liquid.

When all of the openings 14 have received a component 15, the carrier/template arrangement is taken out of the tank 16, or the liquid level lowered in the tank, and the components are permanently bonded to the carrier 10 by known drying and possibly heating steps. Advantageously, the template may be kept in place during said steps, which reduces the chance of misalignment errors occurring during said process steps.

The tube 17 can be placed vertically or in a slanted position. The supply of components 15 inside the tube is preferably done by a mechanical system arranged in said tube, which allows the components to be supplied one by one, either by manually releasing subsequent components or by releasing the components automatically with predefined time intervals between subsequent components. Said mechanical system may be a rail system similar to systems known in the art. A supply tube positioned in a slanted position is advantageous in that it increases the probability of components remaining in the correct orientation, i.e. with the contact surface 20 facing downwards, while moving along the template surface.

An apparatus of the preferred embodiments comprises the following elements: a tank 16 configured to contain a liquid 2; a means for holding a substrate/template arrangement (10/13) in said tank, e.g., a bracket or clamp; and a supply means 17, e.g., a tube, for supplying components 15 and liquid 2 simultaneously to the template side of said arrangement.

The apparatus further comprises one or more outlets 18 provided in said tank, and optionally a recirculation means (not shown), e.g., a pump, for recirculating liquid flowing out of the tank back towards the supply means 17. Said recirculation means may also be suitable for recirculating components back towards the supply means. Alternatively, the outlet opening(s) 18 may be provided with means for filtering components, e.g., filters, or separate outlets could be present for gathering and possibly recirculating components which have not been assembled. Any description given with respect to the method of the preferred embodiments of elements of the apparatus (e.g., position of the tube, rail system), are relevant for the description of the apparatus as such.

The preferred embodiments are not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings. The guiding liquid can be any suitable liquid other than water (e.g., common organic liquids such as acetone, acetonitrile, butanols, benzene, diethylether, diethylene glycol, diglyme, glyme, dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, dioxane, ethanol, ethyl acetate, ethylene glycol, glycerin, hexamethylphosphoramide, hexamethylphosphorus triamide, methanol, methyl t-butyl ether, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, nitromethane, propanols, pyridine, tetrahydrofuran, xylenes, or the like), and a suitable lubricant can be chosen that shows the same behavior as described above in combination with the guiding liquid. Alternatively, water can itself be used as the lubricant, with a guiding liquid that is not miscible with water, and in combination with a hydrophilic layer on the assembly locations 11. Another alternative is to apply a coating of solder material (e.g., molten copper) on the assembly locations by a dip coating technique, and then apply the method of the preferred embodiments with a guiding liquid having a boiling point above the melting point of the solder, applied at a temperature above the melting temperature of the solder material. Any known self-assembly principle can be used instead of the one illustrated in FIGS. 1 a-c, e.g., self-assembly on the basis of electric or magnetic field effects.

According to a particular embodiment, the self-assembly takes place only through the application of the template, i.e., by guiding the components over the template surface until they become trapped in an opening 14, and without a means for self-alignment such as the hydrophobic layer 11 and lubricant. In this case the height of template is preferably higher in order to ensure that the component remains trapped in the opening, and the difference in surface area between an opening and a component is preferably as small as possible in order to ensure an optimal alignment.

The liquid could be supplied through a separate supply means, different from the supply means for providing the components, e.g., one tube for the liquid and another tube for the components, both being directed at the template side of the carrier/template arrangement.

It is to be noted that the area and shape of the contact surface 20 and the assembly location 11 need not correspond to the area and shape of the largest cross-section 21 of a component. It is possible that the contact surface 20 of a component is smaller than the largest cross-section 21 of the component, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 b, the lower surface 22 of the component is flat, and a hydrophobic layer 20 is applied on only a portion of said flat lower surface 22. The hydrophobic layer 20 hereby defines the contact surface of the component 15. The terms ‘hydrophobic’ and ‘hydrophilic’ have been used with reference to the embodiment with water as the guiding liquid, but this is not limiting to the scope of the preferred embodiments. A hydrophobic surface is merely an example of a surface with low affinity for the guiding liquid, whereas a hydrophilic surface is an example of a surface with high affinity for the guiding liquid.

The material of the template 13 may be a semiconductor material, e.g. silicon, or glass or metal, or any other material suitable for the template's purpose. The number of openings on a template may vary depending on the application (from a few to several thousands). Likewise the size of the openings may vary between broad limits (for example 100 nm to a few centimeters for one dimension of the opening).

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention may be practiced in many ways, and is therefore not limited to the embodiments disclosed. It should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to include any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for assembling micro-components on a carrier substrate, comprising: a tank configured to contain a liquid; a means for holding a carrier substrate/template substrate arrangement in the tank, wherein the carrier substrate comprises a plurality assembly locations, each configured for receiving a micro-component, wherein the template comprises openings whose shape corresponds to a shape of a largest cross-section of the micro-component to be received taken parallel to a contact surface of the micro-component, wherein the template is placed in an arrangement relative to the carrier substrate such that the openings are aligned with the assembly locations, and at a distance from the carrier substrate that is smaller than a height of the micro-component to be received, wherein the carrier substrate/template substrate arrangement has a carrier side and a template side, supply means for supplying micro-components and a liquid simultaneously to a template side of the carrier substrate/template substrate arrangement, wherein the supply means is configured to generate a flow of the liquid from the template side through the openings, the flow guiding the micro-components towards the openings, such that, in operation, the micro-components become inserted in the openings, whereby the contact surface of each micro-component is aligned with a contact surface of a corresponding assembly location; and at least one outlet configured to drain the liquid from the tank.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply means comprises a rail system configured to supply the micro-components one by one to the template side.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply means is a tube.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the tube is placed in a slanted position with respect to the template side.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a means to recirculate liquid drained by the at least one outlet back towards the supply means.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a means to recirculate micro-components that have not been assembled on the carrier substrate by becoming inserted into an opening in the template substrate, back towards the supply means. 